Representatives of various non-governmental organisations have expressed grave concern on fast declining population of vultures and observed that due to absence of this species there has been a significant rise in diseases like rabies and anthrax in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and India. They expressed these views in a meeting of the IUCN member organisations’ National Committee held at a local hotel the other day. The chief executive officer of the Indus Earth Shahid Sayeed Khan chaired the meeting. The representatives of different NGOs and government agencies and institutions also attended the meeting. IUCN Regional Director Asia Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji briefed the members about the population of vultures in South Asia. She mentioned that about 20 years ago the estimated population of vultures in the region was around 100 million, which has declined to approximately 20,000. It has been proposed that this may be due to residues of the veterinary drug Diclofenac in animal carcasses. The Government of India has taken very late cognizance of this fact and have banned the drug for animals.
Sources: Daily Times, 23 December 2012
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C12%5C23%5Cstory_23…
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture
- Log in to post comments